Sorry to do this, but this one is for my wife, she was trying to make the popular “Zuppa Tuscana” soup from Olive Garden and picked-up the wrong Italian sausage (which came as an actual sausage) from Publix.
The stuff she should be looking for looks like what anyone would have as a pizza topping when they order Italian Sausage on their pie.
Sorry for the mundane question, but I’ve got no clue about cooking and she’s just learning- any help would be appreciated.
It might be in the “Ground Meats” section, and usually comes in 2 varieties, hot and mild. Some stores sell it as actual “Pizza sausage” with spices and all. Also, the kind she got as an actual sausage (if it’s fresh) can be used as is, just cut the casing and squeeze out the goodies.
Look for small butcher shops in the ethnic neighborhoods. I get mine from a small, family owned, oddly enough, Polish butcher shop called Stoysich House of Sausage.
Thanks, but here in Charleston there’s not much ethnic themed stores… well, there is Asian. And the sausage she bought looks to be the first sausage I’ve ever seen without a casing around it, it was just vacuum-sealed in plastic and smelled horrible to me- like that sweet, dead smell of meat.
The meat was red all over like your typical sausage would be. However the Italian sausage used as a pizza topping would be a much paler color and I believe have little flecks of black pepper in them.
The resulting soup she made wasn’t bad, but it also wasn’t Zuppa Tuscanna… Thanks for the help so far!
Wait! You mean she bought a hard sausage, rather than a ground sausage? Is that what I’m reading?
Also, are you in Charleston SC? WV?
Hopefully she cooked the sausage before she put it in the soup. :eek:
I buy it at Jewel; the local chain here in Chicago and suburbs. It’s not as good as butcher shop sausage, but it’ll do for most dishes.
I love the Italian sausage in the soup at Olive Garden. I could live on it!
take a knife and cut the sausage open, then cook. Same stuff different presentation.
I’m confused, too. Did she cook it in a pan before adding it to the soup? It should turn that pale tan color when cooked. It is the same stuff as goes on pizza, only for pizza it’s often lightly rolled into little meatball-esque bits. If you didn’t like the flavor of it, just try another brand.
Or you can make your own with some ground pork, veal, beef or chuck (the stuff in the store is probably pork, but I use whatever’s cheap). To a pound of meat, add 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp oregano, 1/4 to 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (depending on how spicy you want it), 1-2 teaspoons minced garlic (garlic powder will work in a pinch) and 1-2 teaspoons sugar (depending on how sweet you want it). Most American style “Italian sausage” also has about 1/2 to 1 tsp of lightly crushed fennel seeds added to it, but not a single Italian person I know likes “finnochio” in their sausage. My Italian immigrant friend Giuseppe uses Polish sausage where I would use Italian sausage to get away from the fennel. I use the fennel when I cook for myself, but if Giuseppe is coming over for dinner, I leave it out. Mix your meat and spices - gently, don’t overwork the meat - and make into little balls, stuff into casings, or brown as is and add to recipes.
Yes, she bought hard sausage, hehe and yes, she cooked this 
-to rock hard pieces that, Thank God softened to chewable pieces in the soup when it was all put together.
There are many different ways that different places make Italian Sausage, but I can’t imagine getting a “wrong” one as you say. They come in hot and mild varieties but the one your wife got at Publix is Italian Sausage just like anything else. Perhaps another brand is better, but that one isn’t “wrong”.
Like another poster said, she should cut it out of the casing and roll it into those little balls and cook them to make the pizza topping. Also cook it before it goes into a soup…
It’s starting to sound like she bought pepperoni or another hard sausage from Italy, rather than Italian sausage. She is shopping in the Deli department, not the meat department.
Tell her to go look in the fresh meat case at the Publix. Italian sausage will be there probably near either the Pork, ground beef, or Polish sausages. It may be in bulk or more likely in links. If it is in links, cut it out and cook it like hamburger. Or roll it into meat balls and cook it.
It usually comes both hot and mild.
What Rick said. It is also available in turkey. We like a mix of the sweet and the hot. Just skin the sausages, dump in a pan with some oil, and break them apart as they cook.
Go to your local supermarket and look for Johnsonville Italian sausage. It’s about the only commercially made Italian that’s worth buying. It comes in both link and bulk forms, and in hot (my preference), mild or sweet (made with basil). If all they have is link, then split and remove the casing before using.
Sorry guys, but I need to emphasize that this sausage we purchased is a dry, hard sausage, and there was z e r o casing around this and after it was cooked it, if anything became darker red- maybe it could be ground up, but all I can say at this point is that I know what italian sausage on pizza smells and tastes like and this sausage never looked, smelled or tasted like this sausage I’m trying to locate.
Maybe a wrong product but it was the only Italian sausage available. 
It should look like this
http://www.johnsonville.com/home/products/italian.html
You need to shop in the fresh meat department, not the deli department. I have shopped in Publix stores, I’ve seen it there, trust me they have it.
She bought pepperoni, or Genoa salami or another hard cooked sausage. What she wants is fresh uncooked sausage.
Ask a meat department (not deli) employee where it is, and they will show you.
Publix has awesome Italian sausage - she was looking in the wrong place. Like somebody upthread said, it’s in the butcher section. It should come in a styrofoam tray like ground meat or something, but instead there will be four or so fat long sausages that will be a pale color. It will come in “sweet” and “hot”. They are raw and need to be cooked. They come in casings but you can remove them if you like.
Bingo! We will take another look in the ground meats area, I know we looked around the kielbasa with no luck, but my wife’s a Vegetarian and I don’t usually do much food preparation (sanwiches, spaghetti, tuna fish, Calzone, pizza, Mac & cheese)- I’m your man)
Look for what **Qwisp **posted. 100% Italian guy here, and I am eating Italian sausage and broccoli rabe right now.…
In cities like NY, Phila, Boston, Baltimore and similar places like New Jersey, there is no shortage of local brands in the meat section. Get back to where they sell steaks and the butcher area.
**PREP: **You can pan grill the sausage in lengths w/light oil, then slice it for the pizza. Some pizza joints use the sausage ground up, so that is up to you. I see it many way: ground up like ground beef, sliced length wise and slice like half dollars.
You can cook it about 60% in the pan and the baking process with the pizza will top it off.
Locally we use Meglios, Bottos, Primio, and many others. Or. we go right to the Italian markets for homemade stuff.